


Recovery

by Kinasume



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: ASL, Anxiety, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Sort of? - Freeform, in the non shippy sense, naaaah that's not the case, narrator: that very definitely was the case, selective mutism, what do you mean im projecting my personal selective mutism experience on link, which is........ unusual for me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-29
Updated: 2017-08-29
Packaged: 2018-12-21 06:59:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,434
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11938770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kinasume/pseuds/Kinasume
Summary: Link gets hit with the trauma of fighting Waterblight Ganon harder than he had expected.





	Recovery

**Author's Note:**

> Well, here it is.... my first attempt at writing anything outside of nanowrimo in at least two years. Hopefully it reads okay. I kind of used this as a way of teaching myself a couple things in ASL because that's just something I need to learn? So the descriptions of the signs are included, I hope that doesn't make it flow weird or anything. If it does, I always put the translation in italics afterwards, just skip to that.  
> Enjoy!

Link sat on the path to the reservoir, knees pulled up to his chest with his forehead resting on them. Somehow he had managed to keep his head throughout the fight with Waterblight Ganon; probably the adrenaline, he figured. He'd even managed to keep his composure when Mipha's spirit had given him a final farewell and granted him Mipha's Grace. But now that he was out of Vah Ruta and had a chance to actually think about what had just happened... it was overwhelming. How many battles like that had he fought through in past? He had barely begun searching for the places that supposedly would help his memory return. He liked to think that in past he had just fought and moved on like everyone likes to believe always happened, but after this, he wasn't so sure of himself. 

It took everything he had just to keep himself calm at the flashing thoughts of those times that had been just a little too close, the pain that rushed through him at every hit of that spear echoing in his body despite his wounds healing after the battle. Every so often the ceaseless thoughts would hit hard enough that he'd let out a sob, phantom pains wracking his body for a time before he found a way to remind himself that it was over, to take deep breaths, that he was safe now. But it was always only a matter of time before they returned. 

Hours passed. It had been nearing midday when he had been transported from the Divine Beast; now it was sunset. Link had finally managed to calm himself enough to keep the surges of panic at bay, but he couldn't bring himself to move. Instead he lifted his head so his chin was now resting on his knees, and stared out at the water of the reservoir. His stiff muscles protested, not having moved since he sat himself there. He ignored the feeling.

"Link!" the distinctive voice of Sidon broke the silence that had surrounded him like a comforting blanket. Link's entire body went tense. He could feel the beginnings of tears welling up in his eyes again, but he fought hard to push them back. Why him, why now? He continued to stare at a fixed point in the water. 

Sidon's heavy steps quieted as his run slowed to a walk, then stopped altogether as he came up to Link's side. "Are you alright? We've been waiting for your return."

_Of course they had been. That was normal, to want to talk to someone after they saved your home, right? Probably. Link's teeth clenched. Just go away Sidon, you don't need to see me like this. I'll be back to normal soon, you'll see. But I can't handle this right now, I need to be alone, just go, please._

The silence was thick in the air. Link wanted to fill it, to spew any number of things to Sidon; the possible ways he could respond were piling and swirling in his mind, but he couldn't find a way of saying any of them; a heavy weight had formed in his chest which seemed to keep the words down. He heard shifting beside him; it wasn't until a timid hand touched his shoulder that he realized Sidon had sat down too. The tears came back, and this time he couldn't stop them. He allowed them to fall silently.

"...It was that bad?" Sidon asked after awhile. Link didn't think it was possible for his voice to be that quiet. He took a deep breath and allowed his eyes to close for the first time in what felt like ages. He nodded ever so slightly. 

Another deep breath, and Link slowly willed his right arm to move. He brought it up to his chest, hand in a fist, and rubbed it in two circles. _I'm sorry._ He let his hand drop to his lap. The weight of Sidon's lifted from his shoulder.

There was another prolonged pause. Link sighed, resting his chin on his knees again and finding a new point in the water to stare at. The tears had slowed, and some were beginning to dry on his face. 

"You have nothing to be sorry for," Sidon said finally. Link glanced up at him, slightly shocked. When he hadn't responded immediately, he figured that Sidon didn't know sign language; it's not like Link had needed to use it until now. A response was the last thing he had expected.

For the first time since the encounter began, Link took in his face. The light from the sunset shone brilliantly on his skin, despite not hitting him directly. His expression was somber as he was now the one staring into the water of the reservoir. Then, a chuckle escaped his lips. "You did what none of us could have, and single-handedly, no less. That's nothing short of incredible. There's nothing that you need to apologize for." He looked back to Link, his smile smaller than usual, but undoubtedly sincere.

Link's brow knit slightly and he could feel heat rising in his cheeks. He turned his attention back to the water, unable to hold the prince's gaze. After a moment, he raised his arm again. He pointed to himself, spread his fingers apart with the middle finger bent at the base knuckle and swooped his hand up his chest, and finally held his hands in cup shapes at either side of his head before swooping them up and down over it, twisting them in the process. _I feel very embarrassed._ It was more shame than embarrassment, but there's only so many words you can display with your hands. 

Sidon thought for a moment. "I don't know what horrors you had to take down in there... but you have every right to as much recovery time as you need from them."

Link wasn't so sure; he didn't know how much time he had until Calamity Ganon was at full power once more, but he knew he was on a time limit. Even if he had bought himself a little bit of extra time with the calming of Vah Ruta, he only had so long. The task of finding and calming three more Divine Beasts was daunting even before he had fought Waterblight Ganon; now, knowing just what it was that awaited him within each Beast, it was more worrying than ever before. 

The light of the sunset was beginning to fade; above the ridge, stars began to appear for the first time since Vah Ruta began the endless stream of rain. Link watched their reflections in the water. His mind was blank, something that he hadn't had the luxury of experiencing since he first arrived in Zora's Domain. He was thankful for that. He yawned, the exhaustion of the entire experience finally working to catch up to him.

The action did not go unnoticed. Sidon glanced down at him before turning his gaze to the sky and saying, "You know... I do believe my father wants to thank you officially. Which means other people will be there too. But I'm sure that if you needed some time to rest first, you could have it. We have guest quarters above water you could stay in to keep prying eyes away until you're ready."

Link's eyes drooped, the lids suddenly heavy. He mustered a slow nod. Beside him, Sidon got to his feet.

"I'll go update him on the situation and make sure someone's prepping the room for you. Will you be fine on your own for a moment?" With the exhaustion rapidly affecting him, Link wasn't so sure, but he didn't have the energy to tell the prince otherwise. Besides, the worst that could happen was he'd fall asleep, right? He nodded in response.  
"Alright. I'll be back shortly then." With that, Sidon ran back towards the Domain, heavy steps slowly fading into the distance.

Link was alone again. He was acutely aware of the missing presence, and more anxious at that than he had anticipated. He had wanted to be alone, hadn't he? When was it that he became more comfortable with Sidon seeing him in such a state than being left to himself? He wasn't sure. To keep his mind at ease, he tried to focus on the ripples in the water and counting the reflections of the stars as they appeared.

Next he knew, he was opening his eyes to the view of a pale cyan ceiling. His eyes were tired and crusty, and he could still feel the fatigue in his body. Link squeezed his eyes closed again and rolled over, groaning at the stiffness of his muscles. Must have fallen asleep, he figured. He hoped.

He heard a knock somewhere to his left. Moments later, the sound of a door opening. "Link?" Sidon. He could have guessed. Link groaned again in response.

"Ah, so you are awake! I was worried when I returned to get you and found you asleep. May I ask how you're feeling?" Sidon sounded earnest enough, but given that Link had only just woken up moments ago, he wished that the prince would leave him be. 

_He doesn't know that you only just woke up,_ Link reminded himself. He heaved a sigh and slowly pushed himself up despite his aching muscles. On his knees, he rubbed one bleary eye and looked up at Sidon. He looked like a puppy with the expression he was wearing: genuinely curious and eager to please. Link pointed his hands into his chest beside the armpits and let them slump down, exaggerating his arms and shoulders as he did so. _Exhausted._ Just then, his stomach growled loudly, much to his surprise; he hadn't noticed the hunger he was feeling until just then. Quickly he formed his right hand into a C shape, held it at his collarbones, and pulled it down to his stomach, followed by pulling his three middle fingers in and shaking his hand back and forth. _Hungry also._

Sidon laughed. "We will fetch some food for you, my friend. If you need more rest you are free to take it, though I might recommend staying up for a little while. It's been nearly a full day since you fell asleep." Link's eyes widened. A full day? He really had been exhausted. How many more times was he going to have to go through this again?

With that, Sidon took his leave. Link sighed again and leaned into the headboard of the large bed. He finally took a moment to notice the room. It was fairly plain, much to his surprise; there was some decorative sculpting of the walls near the ceiling and around the door and windows, but nothing was particularly special otherwise. There was a table and chair off to the side near the practically floor-to-ceiling windows, where most of his supplies currently rested. He felt bad for whoever had taken the time to remove it all, looking at the small mountain of things he carried with him on a regular basis. He'd have to check it all over once he wasn't as tired to see just how much he used up in calming Vah Ruta and defeating Waterblight. 

The prince returned rather quickly, carrying a tray holding a variety of cooked fish and edible plants from the surrounding area. Link was somewhat surprised to see him carrying the tray himself, but said nothing on it. He raised his hand to his lips and dipped his forearm forward as Sidon placed the tray on his lap. Thank you. Sidon flashed him a grin as he stood back up to his full height, walking over to look out the window as Link ate.

It didn't take him long to work through the food on the tray. It had been a nice array of foods, but by no means had it been a lot. Just enough to satisfy him for the moment. He set the tray aside and looked over at Sidon, who was still looking out the window; to the sky, he noticed. After a moment he realized that he was looking at the beam coming from Vah Ruta. Link wondered what he was thinking about.

Before he could get too caught up in his thoughts, Sidon glanced back to him. "Ah, finished? Sorry, I'm afraid I distracted myself a bit there," he said as he strode back to the bedside. "I have been asked to find out when you think you'll be ready to speak with my father. But I'd also like to stress that there's no pressure; you've done us a massive service, and we don't wish to deny you recovery time."

Link grimaced slightly and looked away as he thought for a moment. He certainly wasn't comfortable speaking with the zora king now. He pointed to himself, spread his fingers apart and poked his chin twice with his middle finger, made a curled V shape with his index and middle finger and circled that around his mouth, made a fist with both of his hands and brought them together in front of himself, and finally pointed with his right hand off to some empty space in the room. _I would prefer to speak with him._ Link hoped that the fact that he meant to literally speak carried through.

Sidon nodded. "Understandable. I'll let him know it's an as-soon-as-you-are-able situation." Link sighed a little with relief. "Is there anything you need in the meantime?"

Link thought on that for a moment. He'd have preferred a bit of time outside, but he didn't want to make a scene by leaving the room. He figured he could deal without it as long as he got some time to himself to work through this. He shook his head. Sidon grinned again.

"Sounds good. I'll leave you be to recover then. I'll come back in a little while to check on you, and if you find that you need anything, there are a couple guards outside your door; just get their attention and they'll find me." Link smiled and nodded in response. Sidon turned to go; just as he started to reach the door, a thought occurred to Link. He quickly knocked on the headboard to get his attention.

When the prince turned around, inquisitive look on his face, Link looked down a little sheepishly. He took a deep breath and fought through the knot in his chest.

"...Thank you. For everything," he mustered, slowly and quietly. He glanced back up to Sidon to find him beaming.

"Of course."

**Author's Note:**

> That. May or may not have been one part me trying to put some first hand selective mutism experience into the fandom and one part me trying to describe how episodes of it feel for me personally. On the second front I'm not sure I did a great job, but it's also one thirty in the morning and I'm tired, so who knows. Either way I had fun writing it. I may or may not get into writing more of these two, we'll see. Feedback will definitely be a contributing factor. :)


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